This week’s episode of Novum deals with an unusual consequence of the feminist utopia: male isolationism and the post-gendered, pregnant man. We’ll consider what the future holds for the two-sex binary. Science fiction posits both the possibility that the divide will be abolished, and the possibility that it will become an impassable chasm. During this episode of the program, we’ll be discussing pregnant ‘men’ in fiction and reality, from Ursula Le Guin to the Arnold Schwarzenegger vehicle “Junior.”

This week’s episode of Novum is all about the sleeper. From Sleeping Beauty to Woody Allen, we find that plenty of characters have simply slept through centuries, to find themselves, unwittingly, in the distant future. Today, stories about time travel, sans time machine. And what will happen when at last the sleeper awakes?

Earth has been invaded countless times by aliens in film and literature for over 100 years. Often, our technology is useless against our attackers… and our finest cities are left in ruins! Why is this genre so compelling to us? I think works about invasion can carry an unexpected deeper meaning…

This is the first episode of NOVUM, a podcast exploring the importance and impact of science fiction.